Nearly 900 workers at an Amazon Warehouse in Coventry will stage a strike for three days due to a pay dispute, labour union GMB told the news agency Reuters on Saturday (July 8). GMB said that the strike would take place from July 11-13 at the warehouse for two hours during the morning and two hours in the evening on the three days. The strike coincides with a “Prime Day” sales event the company has announced for July 11-12.
GMB Senior Organiser Rachel Fagan said that the labour union’s members in Coventry time and time again showed that this fight would only end with $19.25 (15 pounds) an hour and union rights. Amazon has meanwhile said that the minimum starting pay for its employees is between 11-12 pounds per hour, depending on the location.
There will be no disruption to customers: Amazon
Speaking to Reuters, Amazon said that the Coventry warehouse did not directly serve customer orders and there will be no disruption to customers. As per JP Morgan, the e-commerce giant is expected to record about $7 billion in revenue from its Prime Day sales, an increase of 12% from what was disclosed for Prime Day during the third quarter of last year.
Last month, the workers at the warehouse in Coventry voted for six more months of strikes and staged a walkout from June 12-14. The vote for strikes came after the GMB reluctantly withdrew an application for trade union recognition at BHX4 earlier in June.
For months, strikes have been called in several industries across the UK including by nurses, teachers and transportation workers in response to inflationary pressures.
On Thursday, trade union RMT said the staff of the London Underground will strike from July 23-28 in a long-running dispute over pensions, job cuts and working conditions.
